Exploration of the Arts is at the heart of everything we do. We strive to enable children to come into contact with spectacular artistic creations, old and new, from all over the world, not just those designed for children. Shakespeare, Monet, Mozart...... we believe that all of these works can be enjoyed by young people, and provide inspiration for their lifelong learning.

We follow, and assess, children using the academic and developmental standards set out by the British Early Years Foundation Stages curriculum.

Curriculum

Classes

Little Star

18 Months - 3 Years

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For many children that we welcome to our Little Star class, this will be the first time they leave their parents. As such, we aim to make this transition as smooth as possible by ensuring our classes are friendly and fun - full of songs, dance, games and laughter.

For this age group, we focus on the development of personal, social and emotional skills, physical development, and communication and language capabilities - all through a fun and expansive arts-based curriculum.

Our immersive circle time activities encourage language development and physical exploration via songs and dance. Our arts-based activities encourage self expression, as well as the development of fine and gross motor skills, and body movement.

Stories and literature are integral to each day, as well as fun activities encouraging mathematical development, and the introduction of pre-writing activities to introduce letters and sounds.

Each day is an adventure for our Little Star class, as they explore our unique monthly themes, play and interact with other children and teachers, and learn fundamental life skills.

Blue Sky

3-4 Years

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As children grow and develop confidence and independence, we aim to ensure our Blue Sky students cultivate the key skills established in Little Star, as well as building an increased understanding and appreciation for the world around them.

Language skills are a fundamental part of daily life in Blue Sky. Our bespoke alphabet songs make the learning of sounds and letters both fun and challenging. Every song introduces an aspect of grammar, vocabulary or intonation, and children naturally absorb this learning while having fun singing.

We also establish some more systematic learning techniques; introducing a sound of the week, promoting the understanding of how these sounds form words, and working on letter recognition and formation.

Our arts based activities move on, developing a comprehension of rhythm, colours, textures, construction and imaginative role-play. We also focus on the development of numeracy via artistic exploration, with a focus on counting, shapes, space and comparisons of objects.

We ensure children are always observing, questioning and commenting on the things they see around them, developing an interest in living things and the environment.

Coming Soon!

*Our Sunshine Class (4-5 Years) will open in September 2017; and Rainbow Class (5-6 Years) in 2018.

Our Team

Mr. Martin

Teacher

Mr. Martin completed his education in Switzerland at the University Lausanne after two years of studies in England (Kent). He graduated with a double major in English and French culture and literature. Mr. Martin has taught French, German and English in over four countries for the last seven years. His teaching career led him to Japan two years ago where he was head teacher of a prestigious school in Nihonbashi. He designed, implemented, and monitored preschool curriculum and after school programs.

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Mr. Martin is a firm believer in art promoting creativity and growing through artistic expression. He speaks English at native level, and is also a qualified first-aider.

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His enthusiasm and warmth towards all students is always felt throughout the school.

Miss Emily

Teacher&Illustrator

Miss Emily grew up in Worcestershire, England, completing an Art Foundation at Stourbridge College and then studying for a creative degree in Textiles at Brighton University. Upon moving to Tokyo in 2013, she has worked in various teaching roles, including an International School, primarily with preschool aged children. She has extensive experience of creating stimulating crafts, leading music and rhythm programmes and teaching English, numeracy and fine and gross motor skills.

Miss Emily is a talented artist, and has exhibited and sold illustrations in Omotesando. She has also worked with some of the UK’s finest creative manufacturers, creating beautiful works including head pieces, jewellery, crafts and illustrations.

Miss Emily is passionate about organic learning and creativity, and brings these qualities and techniques to Clarence International School. She is also a lover of the outdoors and nature, and ensures the children she teaches are encouraged and prompted to learn and enquire about the world around them.

Miss Emily is a hugely compassionate individual and prides herself on the quality of care she delivers to her students.

Miss Ria

Teacher

Miss Ria spent her early life growing up on the small island of Barbados in the Caribbean, studying for her degree in English Literature before moving to the UK to gain a subsequent Masters in Theatre & Global Development at Leeds University.

She began her teaching career in Barbados, designing a Drama-based curriculum for 2 - 15 year old children. Following this, she moved to Tokyo where she has gained extensive experience of teaching English and drama to a variety of students, from pre-school to teenage years.

Miss Ria has published, performed and composed multiple creative works, including poetry, theatre and creative writing and is a member of Tokyo International Theatre Ensemble.

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Her approach to teaching is to use the arts as integral to each child’s school day. She is passionate about using her creative skills to aid the academic, personal and social development of young learners.

Miss Sarah

Assistant Teacher

Miss Sarah earned her Diploma in Early Childhood Education from the Management and Science University (Malaysia). Following this, she gained extensive teaching experience working in a preschool environment at PLUS Malaysia Berhad’s Child Development Centre. In 2012, she moved to Japan to work for the Malaysian Embassy’s Diplomat as a personal nanny. During this time, she was also actively involved in providing an English speaking environment to Japanese children.

Miss Sarah is passionate about photography, and is also a keen creator of crafts - in fact many of the beautiful props and stimulus the children use at Clarence have been created by Miss Sarah.
Miss Sarah believes that children who receive an abundance of love and positive energies from their surroundings are truly blessed. That’s why providing love and nurturing positive qualities is at the heart of her approach to teaching.

Quoting from Dr. Dyer “Doing what you love is the cornerstone of having abundance in your life.” Right now, she is truly doing what she loves most!

Founders of Clarence International School

Miss Ayahi grew up with a love of teaching, coming from a family of educators. After studying Sociology at the prestigious Tokyo University, she worked in the media before following her passion and setting up & managing a successful international school in Tokyo.

From here, she moved with Fei-Fei to London in 2008 where she completed a Foundation course in Arts at the University of London, as well as working as a qualified Gemmologist at Sotheby’s auction house.

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Mr Fei-Fei is a British-Chinese entrepreneur, with a passion for the Arts. Like Ayahi, he has also benefitted from a diverse background, growing up in China, Japan, South Africa and the UK. He studied Philosophy at the University of Oxford, and gained a degree in Cultural Anthropology at Waseda University in Tokyo. Upon moving to London in 2008 he cemented his love of the Arts doing 8 years of service to The Prince’s Charities Foundation in London, working closely with various varieties and art institutions in his role as Secretary of The Prince’s Charities Foundation (China) and Assistant to Director of Charities.

As parents with such a strong background in education and the Arts, Miss Ayahi and Mr Fei-Fei were inspired to create a school which would allow their own young children to flourish.

Our UK Partner

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Our teaching materials have been developed in conjunction with Children & The Arts (CATA), a charity established by the His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales.

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We follow the ethos of the charity, which believes that early engagement with the arts has a positive impact on young people: raising aspirations, increasing confidence, improving communication skills and unlocking creativity. The charity champions the power of the arts to transform lives and strive towards a future where all children in the UK gain access to the arts. Since becoming an independent charity in 2006 CATA has worked with more than 100 arts organisations across the UK and introduced over 100,000 children to the arts.

At Clarence International School, it is our profound hope that we can fuse our educational philosophy with the great wisdom and experience of Children & the Arts in order to fully realise every child’s potential.

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To find out more about the amazing work of Children&the Arts, please visit their website.